bloviatrix

The good news is got my entire meal done. The bad news is my oven died in the process. Fortunately, I have a toaster oven in which I finished the salmon. Now, let's hope the oven gets fixed this week. This was the first Friday night we were home in about a month. And we're out next week as well. We're drawing to the close of dairy meals. So dinner was: Borscht, using golden beets Baked salmon brushed with basil mayo and bread crumbs Noodle kugle Nectarines stuffed with coffee flavored mascarpone For Shabbos lunch we started with a garlicky green bean salad and focaccia. Then had a large salad with veal and sun-dried tomato sausages, heirloom tomatoes, mixes greens and red pepper.

One of the local kosher caterers placed an ad in The Jewish Week to promote their Rosh Hashannah menu and both Blovie and I are thoroughly disgusted by their menu. It looks like something out of the shtetl, circa the 19th century. Plus, the way they describe the dishes is just so uninspiring. And this is a caterer that supposedly serves a more sophisticated crowd. First Course Chopped Liver with Onion Crisps Stuffed Cabbage Gefilte Fish with Horseradish and Carrot Garnish Second Course Split Pea Soup Entree Sliced Brisket with Gravy Split Cornish Game Hens with Orange Glaze Side Dishes Garlicky String Beans Potato Kugel Traditional Tzimmes Dessert Assortment of Rugelach Honey Cake You can order this meal for $70/person. Oh, did I mention it's a 10 person minimum? And waitstaff is available for an additional $30 per hour/per waiter. Many of you know, I'm not big on traditional foods. But, I can see where they have their place. But, this is so boring. And so uninspired.

What about a pear and frangipane tart? I made one two years ago and although it didn't look too pretty, it tasted very good.

It hit me yesterday that I haven't done a bloody bit of planning. I've got a brisket in my freezer waiting to be sacrificed for a holiday meal. But other than that, I got nothing. Right now I'm toying with lamb shanks, veal roast, or duck for the first night. We'll be 4 this year - I'm hosting my parents.

University of Michigan has the Janice B. Longone collection which is supposed to be a fairly extensive. Longone Center Additionally, the New York Public Library has a very large collection of books on food, cookery and foodways.

For the past several weeks we've been either at friends for meals or have had simchas to attend. We're actually out again tonight. But I'm cooking a reasonably nice lunch. Corn and Potato Chowder Tomato-Mozzerella Tart Chocolate ice cream with raspberry swirl for dessert

Pan, if you're looking for a new fruit to try this year why not go with physallis aka husk cherries aka ground cherries? You can find them at the Union Square greenmarket. Cherimoya's are another interesting option.

Jehangir Mehta does some interesting work. I believe he's still the PC at Aix.

You might want to check out the Teany Book. Heidi Swanson did an entry on her blog about the Chocolate and Green Tea Pudding.

Last week I made Claudia Flemming's Black Peppermint ice cream. The recipe is very simple: 3 cups whole milk, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 ounce fresh peppermint, 12 egg yolks (yes, you read that right) and 1 1/4 cups sugar. Considering the amount of fat I was pleasantly suprised to find that there was no graininess in the finished product or chunks of "butter" which can come from churning. It's really good, but too intense on it's own. So, I made chocolate sauce to drizzle on top. I should point out that the color of the finished product is yellow-ish due to all the egg yolks. No green tint from food coloring. And what to do with all the egg whites - meringues! and egg white omelettes.

In addition to Kalustyan's and many of the Manhattan kosher markets, I shop at the kosher Syrian markets in Brooklyn. The two I favor are Holon and Bat-Yam. Bat-Yam is at 525 Kings Highway. Holon is less than a block east. For pastries, I like Mansoura at 515 Kings Highway. There's also a place on Avenue M that I hit, but I can't remember the name. I also find that the International Foods Warehouse in Lodi, NJ (on Rte 17 - if you do a search on the NJ board you'll find many mentions of it) is a good source. I tend to buy my basmati and bulgur there. In Aventurra, Fl a good source for all the products (kosher) is Sara's Tent. It's in the Waterways shopping center

It's never even occurred to me that mejadra would be eaten at a dairy meal. I've always eaten it with meat (obviously there's no dairy added in that case). I love it. It's total comfort food.

I've been computerless for the past week and a half as both of our computers blew their hard drives at the same time. Anyway, this past week we had.... Baba ganoush. This is a new recipe I tried out of the Gil Marks book. So good. I'm never buying the pre-made stuff again! Corn and potato vichysoisse - the dairy version. With buttermilk. And butter. Red snapper with a carrot-sherry cream sauce sauteed zukes Peppermint ice cream (that I made earlier in the week) with chocolate chips Hibiscus, vodka, and seltzer - our new favorite summer cocktail. Sesame pugliese.

I vaguely recall that Bo Friberg talks about degrees brix for sorbet in his book The Professional Pastry Chef: Fundamentals of Baking and Pastry.

I was planning on making nectarine sorbet. But Russ Parson's article on fruit ice creams in this week's LA Times inspired me to infuse my sugar syrup with cardamon. I don't think I used enough as the cardamon is a little too subtle, but the texture is out of this world - very creamy. And the color is a lovely pale peach.

It's hot. I don't want to use my oven a whole lot. And Blovie requested meat for both meals because of the upcoming nine days. So tonight we're having: "grilled" skirt steak with an ancho-garlic spice rub dilled potato salad roasted corn and black bean salsa apricot-cardamon sorbet, inspired by Russ Parson's column on fruit ice creams in this week's LA Times. Dalton rose to drink.

I hope you have some good drugs for the back. If not, drink some wine with dinner. As for the guest -- what the hell? That's just chutzpah. If anything, you should be invited out. I hope it turns out well. The last time I made it -- it was completely raw in the middle. I think it's because I forgot to add the baking soda. When it cooks through, it's really quite tasty.

I've actually had it -- my dentist gave me a bar from his stash. He has someone bring him cases of it.

My standard, basic borscht recipe is: 1 bunch beets, about 1 pound, roasted. Skins removed and diced small 1 onion, chopped, 1 potato, medium dice dill, a nice handful 4 cups liquid - chicken, beef or vegetable stock, water olive oil, s&p Heat olive oil. Add onion and sweat. Add potato, dill, and liquid. Bring to boil. Reduce to simmer for 30 minutes. Add diced beets, simmer another 10 minutes. Puree and season to taste. Let chill. Creme Fraiche or sour cream is optional. I also make what I call "new wave borscht". Replace potato and dill with fresh ginger and an apple - preferably granny smith or crispin.

Try to get your hands on a copy of Olive Trees and Honey by Gil Marks. He has 3 recipes for boreka dough -- oil only, an oil and butter, and yogurt. He also has a bunch of fillings including potato. The book (which won a Beard award this year) is a compendium of recipes from Jewish communities around the world. (I was recently given a copy of the book and I'm slowly working my way through it. It's a fascinating read. And the recipes I've tried have been a success)

Get Saucy. I took this out of the library to audition and liked it so much I bought a copy.

Things are looking so good at the greenmarket, I planned tonight's dinner to highlight my purchases. Sweet corn and potato vichysoisse Tomato and mozzerella tart in a thyme-garlic crust Blueberries and whipped cream Bread will be either Tuscan Rustica with basil mayo. To drink is mint ice tea. We invited some friends to join us for lunch tomorrow as they just got back from being out of town. Lunch is: Borscht Chef's salad with smoked turkey breast, pastrami and corned beef Chicken paillards with a cornmeal-chili crust Green Bean salad Sorbet - blueberry and apricot. We'll have a pugliese as bread. And to drink Galil Mountain Rose Galilee 2004.

Can you tell me about Dougies BBQ? ← There's absolutely no reason to eat at Dougies unless you keep kosher. I'm serious about this. The food is mediocre. But, they're the only ones who have racks of ribs, which for me is football food. I have had people who don't keep kosher tell me their wings are pretty good but that goes back a number of years. If you're still determined to try it - it's on W. 72nd btw WEA and Bway across the street from All-State. Dougies BBQ and Grill

UWS -- We rarely order in. But if we do, we'll get something from Alibaba (falafel, shawarma). Other kosher spots we'll call are Pizza Roma, Gan Asia, and during the NFL playoffs only - Dougies BBQ. I have been known to do take-out Indian food from one of the Curry Hill places and then schlep it home. In that case I like Madras Mahal or Pongol. I've been meaning to try Chennai Garden.